The present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus which includes a slide-type image forming unit.
An image forming apparatus, such as a printer, a copying machine and a multifunctional peripheral, is sometimes provided with an attachable/detachable unit, such as an image forming unit and a sheet feeding cassette. In some cases, such an attachable/detachable unit is configured to slide with respect to an apparatus main body and to be held in a drawn state from the apparatus main body to some extent.
An image forming apparatus provided with such a slide-type attachable/detachable unit generally employs a configuration where the unit to be attached and detached is provided with a fixed rail and an extended rail which engages with the fixed rail and the apparatus main body is provided with a rail guide which guides the extended rail.
However, the image forming apparatus employing such a configuration needs a space for providing the rail guide in the apparatus main body, and therefore there is a problem that the apparatus main body becomes larger and the number of members and the number of working processes increase.